YUSU Officer Profiles: Jaz Liddell, LGBTQ Officer

I represent LGBTQ students in the student union and chair the LGBTQ network. Every student who’s LGBTQ(+) is a member of the network. In our open meetings we plan campaigns and events but it’s also really important just to chat about what good or bad experiences people have come across, to feed back to the uni. Lately I’ve been doing staff training with Unity Health following student feedback, and getting ready for asexual awareness week!

What advice do you have for freshers?

Make as many friends as you can, open up to people and know you can find support. It’s daunting going into an environment where everything is led by students, and students you’ve never met before. As a transgender person, I wish I’d been firmer with getting people to use the right pronouns in my first term because in the end so many people were kind and understanding… and I learned from the network exactly what to do if they weren’t!

What is your favourite thing about York?

I like the freedom. An hour from leaving my house I can be in the middle of some fields, Leeds city centre, or in a really cute street in York. I think if you know where to look York can be right for so many people.

When should people come to see you?

Our first few open meetings are Wednesday 6:30pm but we try to move it around so everyone can get a chance to come and have their say, so keep an eye on our facebook page (YUSU LGBTQ), group (YUSU LGBTQ Network) or twitter (YUSU_LGBTQ).